Everything from advances in longevity to declines in infant mortality stem ultimately from increases in scientific knowledge. Scientific advances have been a boon for mankind. At the same time, however, science has been bursting more and more bubbles for the deeply religious fundamentalists who seek to desperately cling to stories authored numerous millennium ago by ignorant men motivated by fear and superstition or a need to feel superior over other surrounding cultures. For fundamentalist Christians, perhaps the biggest blow has been the human genome project which has confirmed that the Adam and Eve of Genesis never existed as historical persons. The result? The entire Christian story line collapses. Rather than have their simple minded beliefs undermined, these people are part of a growing tide of those engaged in a flat out denial of scientific truths. Denial is the only thing that keeps their house of cards world view from collapsing. And most of these people now make up the base of the Republican Party. Here in Virginia, GOP gubernatorial candidate is an avid science denier. A piece in Huffington Post looks at the phenomenon and the efforts by some to counter it. Here are excerpts:

New atheism refers to a set of ideas presented in a series of
bestselling books that appeared between 2004 and 2007. Today it remains a
strong but minority view among atheists. Basically, new atheists differ
from the old atheists by being more willing to challenge religious
beliefs that contradict science and reason, and engage in intellectual,
moral, and political disputes with even moderate believers.

[N]ew atheists don't want to see creationism in the schools any more
than the old atheists did. But they don't regard this as such an
overarching problem that we should ignore the even greater damage that
is done to society by the irrational, magical thinking associated with
religion, which penetrates all areas of human life. Creationism is not
the cause but the effect of such thinking.

Most working scientists and scientific organizations, notably the
National Academy of Sciences, are accommodationist. They carefully avoid
confronting religion for fear of losing public support for science. But
let me tell you something. They're losing it anyway. Spurred on by the
antiscience of the religious right, political support for science is
lower now than at any time in memory.

Once America was the foremost nation in science. Today the most
important discoveries are being made elsewhere. Few fresh science PhDs
in the U.S. have much hope of getting a post-doctoral appointment and
virtually none of making a career in the academic world.

In the meantime, our schools are producing a generation of science
illiterates. The US is 29th among developed nations on a list that ranks
the science literacy of 15-year olds.

Where does all this hostility to science come in? I think the answer is clear. The hostility is not directed toward the
practical applications of science, as in medicine and technology, but
with the challenges that basic science brings to the religious views
held by the majority of Americans. Unfortunately most Americans do not
seem to realize that basic scientific research is the foundation of the
welcome applications.

Let's take a look at some of the conflicts between science and
religion that have an important impact on society. Of course, evolution
is the most familiar; so let me cover that first. In a survey of 33
countries in Europe plus Japan, only Muslim Turkey had a lower belief in
evolution than the United States.

Evangelicals and fundamentalists see evolution as a threat to their
belief in the inerrancy of scripture, which indeed it is. No compromise
is possible here. However, the Catholic Church and moderate Protestant
churches say they accept evolution. But that is simply not true.

The second big combat zone is climate change. There can be no factual
disputing that the carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere is far above
what is expected naturally and is caused by the burning of fossil fuels.
And the simplest physics tells us that this will lead to global warming
by the greenhouse effect. Yet we still hear people saying that the whole global warming thing
is a hoax, cooked up (no pun intended) by unscrupulous scientists in
order to get more government funding. What have scientists actually
done to deserve such mistrust? Nothing but present facts that conflict
with the "deeply held belief" of many Christians that God would never
allow such a thing.

In 2009, John Shimkus, Republican of Illinois, and a member of the
Energy and Commerce Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives,
argued that climate change is a myth because God told Noah he would
never again destroy Earth by flood (Gen 8:21-22). He is seen on video as
saying, "The earth will end only when God declares it's time to be
over. Man will not destroy this earth. This earth will not be destroyed
by a flood. . . . I do believe God's word is infallible, unchanging,
perfect."

Now, it's not a surprise that the fossil-fuel barons and the politicians
they support financially are behind all this global warming denial
propaganda. . . . . Perhaps it is not surprising that oil and coal companies would resort to
dishonest tactics to protect its investments--the cutthroat business
world being what it is. What is surprising is how many ordinary people
fall for their lies.

Here again, few scientists and accommodationist atheists are willing to
publicly acknowledge the role of religion. But the facts speak for
themselves. A recent poll
showed that only 31 percent of evangelicals believe there is any global
warming at all, while 58 percent of those unaffiliated with any church
not only believe Earth is warming but agree it is the result of human
activity.

Faith would not be such a negative force in society if it were just
about religion. However, the magical thinking that becomes deeply
ingrained whenever blind faith rules over facts warps all areas of life.
It produces a frame of mind in which concepts are formulated with deep
passion but without the slightest attention paid to the evidence that
bears on the concept.

From its very beginning in prehistory, religion has been a tool used by
those in power to retain that power and keep the masses in line. This
continues today as religious groups are manipulated to work against
believers' own best interests in health and economic well being by
casting doubt on well-established scientific findings. This would not be
possible except for the diametrically opposed world-views of science
and religion.

I have an urgent plea to scientists and all thinking people. . . . That goal is the replacement of foolish faith and its vanities with
something more sublime--knowledge and understanding that is securely
based on observable reality.

I agree with the author. Religion - especially fundamentalist religion of all faiths - is an increasing blight on humanity. It needs to be defeated and absolutely no deference given to religious based ignorance and denial. House of cards faith systems need to be demolished along with the hate and bigotry that seem to be always tied to them.

It seems that Kathleen Parker has once again sworn of Christofascists/Tea Party Kool-Aid at least for long enough to once again see reality and slam the House GOP for it hell bent effort to force a government shut down and tank the U.S. economy yet again. Parker recognizes that if the House GOP saboteurs prevail, it will be the GOP, not Obama and the Democrats who will ultimately lose. Only time will tell how long Parker will eschew the mind altering Kool-Aid of the increasingly insane party base. Would that more once rational Republicans - or at least those few who have not fled the GOP - would do likewise (yes Karen, I'm talking about you). Here are highlights from Parker's take down of the GOP extremists in the Washington Post:

Ask most people on Capitol Hill and they’ll say: 50-50. Those are the odds they give for a government shutdown.

An alternative to the shutdown would be a proposed delay of the individual mandate,
the most painful part of Obamacare, which may seem like a Republican
victory but on closer inspection would be a win for President Obama and
Democrats.

Historians — or commentators, in the meantime — might view either of these possible outcomes as yet another “Putinesca” victory for the president: Saved by the enemy.

Just as Russian President Vladimir Putin emerged at the brink of the U.S. bombing of Syria to orchestrate an alternative solution, Republicans may have provided a rip cord for Obama.

Here’s the problem for Republicans, which will not be news to those
with a view of the long game. The short game is to stall Obamacare, but
to what end ultimately? Until Republicans can seize the Senate in 2014
and the White House in 2016, at which point they can repeal the whole
thing? Skinny chance, that.

More likely, whether the government shuts down
or, should Tinker Bell suddenly materialize and persuade Obama to cave
and postpone his personal dream act, Republicans will be viewed by a
greater majority than previously as having no talent for leadership.

Now
consider the alternative scenario: Suppose Republicans succeed in
getting the individual mandate delayed for a year — right up to the 2014
midterm elections. Bravo, right? Not necessarily. If voters don’t have
to experience the uncertainty and discomfort of being forced to buy
insurance in an unwieldy, dysfunctional system — all the while noticing
that millions are still without coverage — who benefits?

Surely
not the Republicans, who, on the one hand, can be blamed for depriving
insurance coverage to those poor sick kittens and ducklings. On the
other, they accrue no benefit from having prevented the pain of
implementing Obamacare.

Alternatives to present circumstances do not abound. Republicans have drawn their line in the sand. . . . . Republicans, who will have banished themselves to wander a while longer in the desert, may have drawn a line too far.

Obviously, the reality denying and ignorance embracing GOP base will accuse Parker of being a "sell out." But, sometimes being responsible is trying to tell the deranged that they need to rethink their demands and actions. Even if one's efforts fall on deaf ears.

This blog is none too kind to the Roman Catholic Church and the Church hierarchy when it comes to the issue of sexual abuse of children and minors by priests and other clergy. The hierarchy is little more than a foul cesspool which has engaged in a worldwide criminal conspiracy to cover up abuse and to protect sexual predators. I continue to believe that much of the abuse stems from priestly celibacy and the stunted and warped psycho-sexual development of priests that arises from the seminary system. Add to that the Church's obsession with sex and the fact that the Church provides good cover for those with sexual/developmental problems and it is a recipe for disaster. But while the Catholic Church has the most centralized and extensive conspiracy to cover up sexual crimes by clergy, the problem extends far beyond the Catholic Church, probably because far too many who are struggling with sexual identities and addictions see joining the clergy as a means to control their sick inclinations. Naturally, it doesn't work as planned and the fox is in the hen house with access and a system of deference that makes abuse all too easy and subject to cover up. Billy Graham's grandson (pictured above) has had the courage to call out other Christian denominations. Here are details via Religion News Service:

AUSTIN, Texas (RNS) The Christian mission field is a “magnet” for
sexual abusers, Boz Tchividjian, a Liberty University law professor who
investigates abuse said Thursday (Sept. 26) to a room of journalists.

While comparing evangelicals to Catholics on abuse response, ”I think we are worse,” he said at the Religion Newswriters Association conference, saying too many evangelicals had “sacrificed the souls” of young victims.

Earlier this summer, GRACE spearheaded an online petitiondecrying the “silence” and “inattention” of evangelical leaders to sexual abuse in their churches.

Mission agencies, “where abuse is most prevalent,” often don’t report
abuse because they fear being barred from working in foreign countries,
he said.Abusers will get sent home and might join another agency. Of
known data from abuse cases, 25 percent are repeat cases, he said.

Evangelicals often frown upon transparency and accountability, he
said, as many Protestants rely on Scripture more than religious leaders,
compared to Catholics.

Abusers discourage whistle-blowing by condemning gossip to try to
keep people from reporting abuse, he said. Victims are also told to
protect the reputation of Jesus.

Too many Protestant institutions have sacrificed souls in order to
protect their institutions, he said. ”We’ve got the Gospels backwards,”
he said.

Candidly, in my view, the more a denomination obsesses over all things sexual, the higher the likelihood that sexual abuse is rampant. Not only is the forbidden fruit of sex made more attractive, but the more warped members of the clergy are likely to be themselves. Unfortunately, Tchividjian stops short of making this connection.

In what will hopefully turn out to be a disaster for the company's bottom line, Guido Barilla, the CEO of Barilla, which has almost half the Italian pasta market and a quarter of that in the United States, made clear that he doesn't like gays and that, if gays don't like his views, then they can buy a different brand of pasta. Personally, until now, the boyfriend and I have bought Barilla products. But no more. There are plenty of other options and Mr. Barilla can expect to not see another penny from us. From remarks on the blogosphere, we will not be alone in this boycott. The Independent looks at Barilla's statements:

Gay rights groups are calling for a boycott of the world’s biggest
pasta maker Barilla after the company’s chairman said he would never use
homosexual couples in his advertisements.

Guido Barilla, whose firm has almost half the Italian pasta
market and a quarter of that in the US, told Italy’s La Zanzara radio
show last night: “I would never do an advert with a homosexual family…if
the gays don’t like it they can go an eat another brand.

“For us the concept of the sacred family remains one of the fundamental values of the company.”

He
added: “Everyone has the right to do what they want without disturbing
those around them”. But then the pasta magnate upped the ante by
attacking gay adoption. “I have no respect for adoption by gay families
because this concerns a person who is not able to choose," he said.

Alessandro Zan, a gay rights campaigner and an MP in the left-wing Sel (Sinistra Ecologia Libertà)party,
said: “This is another example of Italian homophobia. I’m joining the
boycott of Barilla and I hope other parliamentarians do the same.” Campaigners
have urged a boycott of all 20 brands owned by the Parma-based company,
which include Voiello pasta and Filiz and Misko products.

By Thursday lunchtime, the company, which promotes its
products using images of young, blond-haired children and their
attractive parents, sought to underline its “respect" for gays in a
statement attributed to its chairman.

“I’m sorry if my
comments on La Zanzara have created misunderstanding or polemic, or if
I’ve offended anyone. In the interview I only wanted to underline the
central role of the woman in the family," he said.

But
Ivan Scalfarotto, an MP in the centre-left Democratic Party, wasn’t
convinced. “It’s depressing that a businessman used to working and
travelling around the world should say what Guido Barilla had said. I
certainly won’t be buying his products any more.”

Talk is cheap. If Barilla wants to convince me of his contrition, he will have to have the company produce some ads with gay families. Until, then, my money will be spent on other brands.

In a brief editorial the Richmond Times Dispatch - one of the most conservative newspapers in Virginia - basically said that "Bishop" E.W. Jackson was a religious extremist and unfit for office. And that was before Politico published its bombshell that in 2006 a court issued a restraining order after Jackson threatened to murder his daughter's roommate. That's right, the bogus "bishop" threatened to kill someone. Jackson is the quintessential dream candidate of The Family Foundation - which ought to speak volumes as to why (i) candidates should never be selected via a state convention rather than a primary, and (ii) the Christofascists need to be driven from the Republican Party. Here are highlights from Politico:

E.W. Jackson, the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor of
Virginia, was accused in 2006 of threatening the life of his daughter’s
roommate, according to a Belmont, Mass., police report and a separate
temporary restraining order filed in Middlesex County Court.

Those
two documents, shared with POLITICO by a source opposed to Jackson’s
election, detail the surprise GOP nominee’s involvement in an explosive
personal feud involving his daughter and two other women. The roommate
took out restraining orders against both E.W. Jackson and a third party . . .

The incident is the latest twist in a candidacy that’s been highly
unorthodox from the start, and highlights the minimal scrutiny Jackson
received before the state party’s stunning vote to nominate him last
spring for lieutenant governor.

A candidate who had been taken more seriously during the primary
would likely have had to address his past involvement in such a
sensational legal episode prior to winning the nomination. Jackson, a
fiery conservative preacher known for his incendiary rhetoric,
electrified delegates at the state convention and snatched the
nomination from several better-known candidates.

On April 10, four short-term restraining orders were issued by civil
courts in Middlesex County and Malden, Mass. The Middlesex County
Superior Court granted a temporary restraining order against Jackson and
a third party to Jackson’s daughter’s roommate, to be adjudicated at a
later date. The dueling restraining order requests mirror each other in
some respects, featuring alleged threats of violence and invasions of
privacy in multiple directions.

The issue of the restraining order isn't the only reason why Jackson is unfit for office. Here's a quote from the Richmond Times Dispatch editorial:

E.W. Jackson, the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor,
says humans who do not accept Jesus follow “some sort of false
religion.” Many Christians probably agree with him. Many believers of
other faiths apply a comparable standard to their religion, too.

Although Jackson spoke in a church, his words were inappropriate
for a political candidate seeking a secular office. He is not running
for bishop. Even if he were, his attitudes would attract opposition from
co-religionists.

Of course, Jackson did not run for bishop. He set up his own motley church and gave himself the title of "bishop."

Besides the Hampton Roads area with its huge military presence and numerous defense contractor employers, the other part of Virginia that a government shutdown will devastate is Northern Virginia. Both are regions that if the go heavily Democrat on November 5, 2013, will doom Ken Cuccinelli - and hopefully the other lunatics on the Virginia GOP ticket - to defeat. If the federal government shuts down next week and pay checks and social security checks are not forthcoming, the GOP intransigence and effort to sabotage the American economy will be be all too fresh in voters' minds. Two pieces in the Washington Post look at (i) the potential impact on Northern Virginia and (ii) the potential impact on Cuccinelli and the GOP ticket, all of whom are cut from the same extremists cloth as the House GOP members who want to wreak havoc and undo the 2012 election results. Here are highlights from the first article:

A shutdown of the federal government next week could have a significant
impact on the budgets of local governments across the Washington region,
where officials are preparing to find alternative funds to pay for
local services, officials say.

In Fairfax County, officials recently blamed a decision to deny pay
raises for its workers on the federal spending cuts known as
sequestration and the uncertainty brought on by the fight in Congress
over whether to fund the Affordable Care Act.

Though not as
directly affected as the District — where all local government activity
depends on a federal appropriation — suburban communities nonetheless
expect that a prolonged federal shutdown could mean more instability in a region that is recovering from the 2008 recession, officials said.

Fairfax is also home to about 4,100 federal contractors, who, in 2012,
took in a combined $26.4 billion in federal contracts, according to the
county’s economic development authority.

The [fairfax County] workers, who haven’t had a raise in five years, walked away furious. “The
minute the job market opens up, they’re leaving,” predicted Randy
Creller, an IT specialist who serves on the county employee advisory
council for about 12,000 employees.

What does this mean for the insane Christofascist/Tea Party fanatic Ken Cuccinelli? Here are highlights from the second article:

Ken Cuccinelli II’s Republican friends on Capitol Hill could soon be frenemies if their threat of a federal shutdown continues.

As conservatives in the House and Senate face off with
President Obama over his health-care law in a battle that threatens to
shut down the federal government, Cuccinelli finds himself in a
predicament in the Virginia governor’s race.

[T]he showdown also means that Cuccinelli could alienate more
middle-of-the-road voters — the folks who might not like Obamacare but
dislike government dysfunction even more. That’s especially true in the
Northern Virginia suburbs.

“This is not tea party country, for the
most part,” former congressman Tom Davis (R-Va.) said Thursday. “To the
extent that the tea party is viewed as part of the problem up here,
it’s not going to help the Republican candidate.”

For Cuccinelli, the timing of the showdown is particularly troublesome. McAuliffe already holds a solid lead in several polls, . . . . He’s also scheduled to host Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) on the campaign trail. Cruz, a ringleader of the showdown, . . . .

A shutdown would be felt particularly hard in Virginia, owing to its sizable population of government-dependent contractors and
federal employees in Northern Virginia and its heavy military presence
in Hampton Roads.

“The irony is he’s been trying to tie Terry McAuliffe to Washington
politics,” Kidd Quentin Kidd, a professor of government at Christopher Newport University] [said. “But he would be the one tied to Washington.”

Cuccinelli personifies the problem with today's GOP. He and his cohorts need to be defeated in a landslide loss that will send a message across the GOP nationwide. Virginia readers need to get out and vote and get all of their friends and family members to do so as well.

As the last post underscores, Ken Cuccinelli and his Christofacsist climate denying running mates are a threat to Hampton Roads' economy and long term future. Today, the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce endorsed Democrats Terry McAuliffe, Ralph Northam and Mark Herring. For non-Virginians, Fairfax County has the largest economy of any city or county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Combined with the neighboring Arlington and Alexandria, it has nearly one third of Virginia's population and is a main economic powerhouse for the Virginia. That the Fairfax Chamber endorsed the entire Democrat ticket speaks volumes about how the GOP slate will be bad for business and seek to drag Virginia backward in time to when racism and homophobia were state sanctioned policy and women were subordinate citizens. Here are highlights from the Richmond Times Dispatch:

The political arm of the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce has
endorsed the Democratic ticket for governor, lieutenant governor and
attorney general.

The coveted endorsement of NOVABizPAC -- which backed Republican
Bob McDonnell in 2009, is a key pickup for Democrat Terry McAuliffe.

Today's announcement follows a contentious, chamber-sponsored
televised debate between McAuliffe and Cuccinelli Wednesday that saw
each portray the other as unfit for the Executive Mansion.

A news release issued by NOVABizPAC said
McAuliffe won the endorsement "based on his pro-business policy
positions and proposals."

"Mr. McAuliffe was a major supporter of Governor
McDonnell’s landmark transportation funding legislation and a consistent
supporter of rail to Dulles," airport, Jim Corcoran, Fairfax chamber
president and a trustee of NOVABizPAC, said in the release.

In other endorsements, NOVABizPAC favored Northam based on his support
for the Fairfax Chamber's legislative priorities and for his "record
and experience in the Virginia Senate."

The group endorsed Herring for "serving the
Northern Virginia business community well in the state Senate," and
highlighted Herring's "commitment to Virginia's right to work laws,
Governor McDonnell's landmark transportation funding plan and economic
development initiatives."

Virginia does not need to return to the 1950's - or preferably the 1850's in the eyes of the many white supremacists now in the Virginia GOP base - and the Fairfax Chamber recognized this reality.

Virginia has extensive areas of Atlantic Ocean and Chesapeake Bay shoreline that are increasingly threatened by rising sea levels fueled in significant part by climate change and melting of polar ice. Meanwhile, Ken Cuccinelli and his Republican cohorts deny that climate change is even taking place. Indeed, the GOP controlled House of Delegates would only approve a study of climate impacts only if the terms ‘climate change’ and ‘sea level rise’ were removed from the enabling legislation. While Cuccinelli and the rest of the GOP ticket are in denial of the obvious, the City of Norfolk (and to a lesser extent the City of Hampton) is struggling to face the reality of rising seas and growing areas of repetitive flooding, many of which include high value properties. And the problem is not limited to Norfolk and Hampton. Other Hampton Roads cities are facing a growing threat as well. Surprisingly, Think Progress has done a piece on Norfolk's attempts to combat a slow-motion disaster hitting the city and the GOP's refusal to accept objective reality. Here are highlights (read the whole piece):

“We are here to ask for your help,” saidPaul Fraim, Mayor of Norfolk, Virginia. “It is a threat we can no longer ignore.”

Fraim was speaking to a group of elected officials and emergency
planners earlier this month. The focus of their discussion: the state’s
lack of action on climate change, particularly as it pertains to sea
level rise.

Sea level rise is a slow-moving threat that presents a tremendous
risk to some of the world’s most heavily-populated regions. For Fraim
and his fellow residents of the Tidewater area, sea level rise isn’t a
problem for the distant future — it’s impacting their everyday lives
right now.

Because the ground beneath Norfolk is subsiding while the water
around it rises, the city serves as a snapshot of what other coastal
communities will face in the coming decades if nothing is done to
address climate change. Today the Center for American Progress released a
new video examining the risks and cost associated with sea level rise,
with a particular focus on residents, scientists and community leaders
in Norfolk. Watch it:

… climate-change related increases in sea level have
nearly doubled today’s annual probability of a Sandy-level flood
recurrence as compared to 1950. Ongoing natural and human-induced
forcing of sea level ensures that Sandy-level inundation events will
occur more frequently in the future from storms with less intensity and
lower storm surge than Sandy.

If the several inches of sea-level rise that have been measured to
date have nearly doubled the chances of a Sandy-like storm surge, then
the several feet that may await many coastal cities could be
catastrophic. No longer a distant threat, many of these impacts are
already bearing out in coastal Virginia.

“The fact of the matter is, we’ve got rising waters,” said
Virginia State Senator Jim Watkins (R-Midlothian).”We’ve got recurrent
flooding. There are more 100-year storms in the last 15 years than we’ve
ever seen. Somebody has got to deal with it.”

While the cost of helping coastal cities prepare for the impacts of
sea-level rise is daunting — an initial set of projects identified by
the city of Norfolk in partnership with the Dutch consulting firm Fugro
Atlantic totaled $1 billion, more than the city’s annual operating budget — the cost of inaction is far higher.

As National Journal explains,
“Hampton Roads is a major engine of the state’s economy, home to 1.6
million people, the world’s largest naval base, including the only U.S.
shipyard that builds nuclear submarines, and the tourist mecca of
Virginia Beach.” As sea level rise threatens the region’s infrastructure
and assets, “the economic impact of these forces will be profound; some
estimates run as high as $25 billion.”

82 percent of Virginia’s coastline is considered at high or very high risk to sea level rise, according
to the U.S. Geological Survey. But action to address climate change and
prepare coastal communities for the impacts of sea-level rise is often
impeded by politics. In 2011, the state legislature approved a study
examining the impacts climate change was having on the state, but only
after Republican delegates forced the removal of the terms ‘climate
change’ and ‘sea level rise.’

And this year’s high stakes governor’s race includes Republican Ken
Cucinelli. Not only does Cucinelli question the science behind climate
change, as Attorney General, he used taxpayer dollars to wage a widely criticized witch hunt against University of Virginia climatologist Michael Mann. Mann has since become active in Virginia politics,
telling MSNBC’s Chris Hayes, “Virginians have a very stark choice
before them … [Cuccinelli is] somebody who views science as something to
attack if it doesn’t comport with his ideological views or the views of
the special interests that fund his campaigns.”

The reasons to vote against the Ken Cuccinelli and the rest of the Virginia GOP slate this year are many, but for those who are concerned about the growing flood problems and the treats they pose to Hampton Roads' economy, Cuccinelli and company's denial that a real problem exists alone is reason enough to cast a straight Democrat ballot on November 5, 2013.

Disclosure: The boy friend and I live in a home that has flooded 3 times in the last ten years (more than during the previous 45 years since the house was built) due to sea level rise and increased storm activity/intensity. We pay hefty flood insurance premiums and after the 2009 Nor'Ida storm spent into six figures repairing and flood proofing our home. Last year we spent the equivalent of a new car to install a whole house generator and 3 high capacity industrial sump pumps to be ready for future flood threats. Cuccinelli can live in his alternate universe if he wants, but sea level rise IS HAPPENING. We do not need him in the Governor's mansion.

I find it somewhat scary when conservative/GOP columnist
Jennifer Rubin starts to sound like me.But
she is onto something when it comes to the need for the Republican Party at
both the national level and certainly here in Virginia to kick the crazy elements –
principally Christofascists and racist,Until this happens, I
believe that the GOP is in a long term death spiral.The irrationality and refusal to accept
objective reality of these folks makes it impossible to reason with them or to
appeal to a majority of voters when GOP nomination contests have become a
contest as to who can be the most certifiably insane in order to win the
nomination.Here are excerpts from Rubin’s
column in the Washington Post:

ignorance embracing Tea Party lunatics –
from the Party.

When the John Birchers had to be kicked out of the
Republican Party, William F. Buckley Jr. effectively excommunicated them from
the GOP. When the “smoking gun” Watergate tape came out, it was the late
Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-Ariz.) who urged Richard Nixon to resign. And when Pat
Buchannan’s views could no longer be called anything but anti-Semitic, it
was Buckley who called him out.

If the GOP has one big problem now it is that there is no
Goldwater, no Buckley to tell Sen. Ted
Cruz (R-Tex.) and his ilk that enough is enough. The Republicans
interested in governance are now participants in the political scrum. The
biggest of the conservative magazines, whose editors should know
better, are too timid. They poke and prod here and there, but really
stand up to the destructive right wing? No. They fear a full throttle debunking
would put at risk their place in the conservative cosmos. They mistakenly
believe that their role is to rebuke only liberals.

The Wall Street Journal editorial page or
a conservative eminence like George Will or Charles
Krauthammer can call the tune of charlatans, but the Cruz crowd dismisses even them as pawns in the
Great GOP Sell-out.

There is no single governor, no party senior statesman to
say, “It is intolerable to impugn the motives of those who fought long and
hard against the liberal welfare state. Mr. Cruz, you are not helping; you are
hurting. Please sit down and learn for a few years.”

The politics of the right becomes akin to university
politics — bitter and small-minded with small spoils at stake. And the
architecture that encompasses Cruz, talk radio, Heritage Action and the rest
can sustain itself –in fact does better — when the party loses. It is not
obvious how or even if the GOP gets back on track.

The saying goes that we get the government we deserve. The same is true of
political parties. Republicans
collectively have to decide what they want to be and what role they want to
play in the next few decades. They can be participants in a majority party
— eager and capable of governing, optimistic and inclusive – or they can
be the party run by Heritage Action/Ted Cruz. But they can’t be both.

The freepers and Christofascists will be shrieking and unleashing sheets of flying spittle as they learn that former President George H.W. Bush acted as a witnesses at a same-sex wedding in Maine recently. Maggie Gallagher, Bryan Fischer, Matt Barber, Tony Perkins and similar hate merchants will be literally beside themselves. We'll give updates of the spittle flecked reactions as they go online. The Washington Post looks at the senior Bush's attendance at the wedding. Here are excerpts:

Another prominent Republican has come out in support of same-sex marriage — or at least, in support of one particular same-sex marriage.

Former President George H.W. Bush and his wife Barbara served as an
official witnesses Saturday at the Maine wedding of Bonnie Clement and
Helen Thorgalsen, co-owners of a Kennebunk general store. Thorgalsen
posted a photo on Facebook of the 41st commander-in-chief signing a set
of documents for them at an outdoor celebration: “Getting our marriage
license witnessed!”

No big statement from the ex-prez’s office.
His rep Jim McGrath confirmed his and wife Barbara’s presence at the
Kennebunkport wedding: “They were private citizens attending a private
ceremony for two friends.”

In an e-mail from their honeymoon in
London, Clement told us they’ve known the former first couple for years
and were thrilled they accepted the wedding invitation. Thinking about
“how monumental this time is in our lives” and “how blessed we are to be
in their lives,” they decided to ask them “to really personalize it for
us” as witnesses.

“This is such a wonderful time for change
in our legal system,” she added. “Who would be best to help us
acknowledge the importance of our wedding as our friends and as the
former leader of the free world. When they agreed to do so we just felt
that it was the next acknowledgment of being ‘real and normal.’”
Clement, 60, said she and Thorgalsen, 55, have been together for 12
years, during which she helped raise her new wife’s now-adult daughters.

Writing a blog and being contacted by would be advertisers I know one thing: to get paid for advertising online, the number of page views a blog or publication receives determines advertising rates and ultimately long term viability if making money is the main motivation. The folks at the Virginian Pilot don't seem to get this reality and/or suffer from the delusion that they are in the same league as the New York Times (10 free articles a month) or Washington Post (20 free article a month). Hence, going forward, Pilot online readers will get only 10 free articles a month.

The Daily Press was even more draconian and allowed no free articles. The result? I don't even bother to look at the Daily Press and don't link to it at all anymore. The Daily Press was always an inferior paper, and since sifting to charging for online access there has been a parallel further decline in its content. Hence, the boyfriend and I dropped our 3 day a week print subscription. The Daily Press frankly seems headed toward extinction. The Virginian Pilot seems headed for a similar fate in my view. Readers should expect a marked drop in this blog's references to and links to the Virginian Pilot. I hope that helps decrease its page views. Here's the Pilot's bullshit reasoning:

Our next change begins today, as we implement a new membership model
which will require subscriptions for unlimited access to our journalism
and content online.

Current subscribers to The Virginian-Pilot will receive
membership and full access to our digital content as part of their
existing subscriptions, at no additional charge.

For nonsubscribers, we will allow some sampling of our content on a
monthly basis, with a system that will require membership to gain access
to our digital content after 10 articles are read. Some sections of our websites will remain freely available, including home pages, obituaries, and online marketplaces for jobs, autos, and real estate.

There are plenty of free news outlets where one can find better quality coverage. Truth be told, the Pilot only cares about selling advertising. Quality journalism has always been a secondary concern. Online traffic will seek these out and one can hope that the Virginian Pilot meets the end it deserves as readership declines further and advertisers balk at paying for inferior coverage.

Ken Cuccinelli lives in a fantasy world dominated by religious extremists like his masters at The Family Foundation and knuckle dragging Tea Party cretins (many of whom likewise fall into the Christianist camp). Being surrounded by Kool-Aid drinkers and speaking to crowds of spittle flecked far right racists and bigots - which is what the GOP base has become - Cuccinelli does not grasp that Virginia has changed over the last decade or two. Yes, areas in Southwest Virginia remains a fetid swamp locked in the past where racism, gay bashing and anti-minority bigotry are still socially acceptable. But other parts of the state - the parts with the larger population base - have changed. Even Hampton Roads has become more modern in its outlook, at least in relative terms. A column in the National Journal takes Cuccinelli to task for failing to see this new Virginia. Here are highlights:

Can a hardline conservative still win a governor's race in Virginia? Demographics suggest those days are gone.

Republican Ken Cuccinelli has acted on his passions and convictions
throughout his political career, and that's now creating challenges for
him in a state that's gone through profound changes for more than a
decade. In a dyspeptic campaign between two flawed candidates, former
national Democratic chairman Terry McAuliffe's positions are more in
tune with the state's diverse, swelling population centers – and that
could make the difference.

When Cuccinelli won a special election to the state Senate in 2002,
Northern Virginia was at the start of an explosive decade of growth that
transformed its people and politics. The four-county, suburban
Washington region accounted for more than half of the state's growth
from 2000 to 2010, as professionals and minorities flooded in. One third
of the state now lives in Northern Virginia, and most of the rest live
in the Richmond and Norfolk areas.

Diversity, meanwhile, has skyrocketed. The state Hispanic population
nearly doubled over the period, and there was a 63 percent increase in
mixed-race residents. The politics have evolved as you would expect,
culminating in President Obama's landmark 2008 and 2012 victories in
Virginia, powered by the Northern Virginia counties of Arlington,
Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William.

It was always hard to see how Cuccinelli would hold his own among the
suburban liberals and moderates in the region, particularly women,
given his lawsuits against the Affordable Care Act and a climate
scientist at the University of Virginia; his attempts to make divorce
more difficult; and his opposition to gay rights, abortion rights,
immigration reform, the new health law's Medicaid expansion, and a
bipartisan plan to ease the terrible traffic that threatens to cramp
growth in Northern Virginia.

McAuliffe's pollster, Geoffrey Garin, says Cuccinelli is "losing
white moderates overwhelmingly" because he has "deliberately vacated any
claim to the center."
The campaign is pressing that point in TV ads on abortion and divorce
that ask why Cuccinelli wants to interfere in people's lives. The
tactic is working, judging by McAuliffe's double-digit leads over
Cuccinelli among women in polls this month.

Cuccinelli also has watched a number of prominent Republican figures
endorse his opponent. "These are the cards that he dealt himself;. . . .

New fodder for base-revving arrived recently in the form of proposed new
federal regulations on coal plants. Cuccinelli and his allies
immediately greeted them as a revival of the "war on coal" they say is
being waged by Obama, McAuliffe, and Democrats. A Cuccinelli TV ad says
it's also " a war on the working poor, our livelihood."
But Virginia's coal mines are located in three southwest counties with a
total population of about 82,000 compared with more than 2 million who
live in Northern Virginia – so not that many people are affected. In
fact, says McDonald, "those coal regions actually lost population over
the last decade, they didn't gain it." Nor is McAuliffe leaving the
coalfields to Cuccinelli. He is trying to cut into the Republican's
support there with an ad highlighting a probe into whether Cuccinelli's
office improperly helped energy companies in a fight against local landowners, and another featuring one of the landowners.

"The big question is whether Virginia has reached a tipping point," says
Dustin Cable, a demographics researcher at the University of Virginia.
If a candidate with as many problems as McAuliffe can win, the answer
will be emphatically yes.

Cuccinelli - and for that matter "Bishop" Jackson and Mark Obenshain as well - are the dream candidates of the theocrats and extremists at The Family Foundation. All three need to be decisively defeated to send the message that The Family Foundation and its message of religious extremism, hate and bigotry are now radioactive with voters. Victoria Cobb and similar hate merchants need to be booted out of the GOP permanently.

Andrew Sullivan and others had a case of the vapors recently based on Pope Francis' statements in a recent interview criticizing the Roman Catholic Church's "obsession with gays, abortion, and contraception." Such individuals hoped - or wanted to believe - that such statements might indicate a moderation of the Church's extremism on such issues. Their hopes it seems were a mere self-indulgent fantasy. As the Washington Post reports, rather than moderating the Church has ordered Catholic military chaplains to more or less adopt the agenda of the Southern Baptist Convention and boycott anything that might remotely treat same sex military couples decently and humanely. Here are excepts from the Post story:

Catholic military chaplains cannot be forced to witness or bless a
same-sex marriage, nor are they allowed to take part in any marriage
counseling retreats that are open to gay couples under new rules issued
by the Archdiocese for the Military Services.

The rules, sent to chaplains on Sept. 18 by Archbishop Timothy
P. Broglio, head of the AMS, also bar chaplains from taking part in a
funeral for a Catholic if that participation “would give the impression
that the church approves of same sex ‘marital’ relationships.”

Broglio cited an interpretation from the National Catholic Bioethics
Center explaining that Catholic commanders can morally facilitate
benefits for gay couples in their command if there was no other way to
avoid it without jeopardizing their career.

“This is also
contingent on the commander making known his/her objection to being
required to . participate, as well as on attempting through legal
channels to continue to accomplish changes in policy consistent with the
historic understanding of marriage and family as based on natural moral
law,” said the statement from the bioethics center.

In his statement, Broglio said the new federal policy on gay marriage
and gay rights for military personnel “makes it necessary to reiterate
with clarity the teaching of the Catholic Church regarding
homosexuality.”

The new rules also reiterate that “anyone who is known to be in a sinful
relationship is excluded from ministries” such as serving as a lector,
catechist, altar server or from giving out Communion.

My advice to gay Catholics continues to be to leave Catholicism - the Episcopal and Evangelical Lutheran Church in America parishes offer a good alternative - and to encourage all of their friends and family members to do so as well. Andrew Sullivan and others are entitled to their opinions, but they need to pull their heads out of the sand.

In tonight's televised debate between GOP gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli - a radical Christofascist of the first order - and Democrat candidate Terry McAuliffe, McAuliffe made a point to hit on Cuccinelli's extreme positions on social issues, including gay rights and a "personhood" initiative which would outlaw all abortions and many current forms of contraception. Among other things, McAulliffe stated that Cuccinelli had called gays "soulless and self-destructive human beings." In typical Christofascist form - meaning that he blatantly lied since, apparently "godly Christians" are exempt from the Commandment against lying - Cuccinelli claimed that McAuliffe's statement was false. Here's a highlight from the Virginian Pilot that basically substantiates McAuliffe's position:

Cuccinelli denounced the quote about gays that McAuliffe had attributed
to him as "offensively false." But at a 2008 Family Foundation event,
Cuccinelli, then a state senator, was quoted as saying, "When you look
at the homosexual agenda, I cannot support something that I believe
brings nothing but self-destruction, not only physically but of their
soul."

The debate aside, perhaps more pressing for Cuccinelli is the reality that he will soon have to file briefs in the case of Bostic, et al, pending in the Norfolk Division of the U.S. Eastern District of Virginia. As the blog Northen Virginia Lawyer notes, the schedule is as follows:

Initial summary judgment motions from all parties are due
September 30, 2013.

Response briefs are due October 24, 2013.

Final reply briefs are due October 31, 2013.

The election is November 5, 2013

AG Cuccinelli's office, on behalf of the Commonwealth will
have to file major briefs 36 days, 12 days, and 5 days before the gubernatorial
election.October is the most critical
time of the election season.Cuccinelli
will be held accountable for every word in these briefs.

Cuccinelli's masters at The Family Foundation, a hate group in all but formal designation, will no doubt expect and demand that Cuccinelli file a brief that thoroughly condemns both gays and the "homosexual agenda." That said, one would think that Cuccinelli ought to realize that McAuliffe and the news media will jump all over whatever statements and arguments Cuccinelli puts forth to justify the stigmatization of gays and their relegation to an inferior form of citizenship in Virginia. I for one will be logging on to my Pacer account to pull copies of Cuccinelli's filing just as soon as they are available. Northern Virginia Lawyer sums up the situation well:

Whether Cuccinelli wants to, or not, he will
be the face of the opposition to gay marriage. . . . . Any attempt by Cuccinelli to avoid discussion of social issues will be
easily brought back to the issue du jour
in Virginia,
which will be gay marriage.

Terry McAuliffe does not need to focus on the issue of gay
marriage.He simply needs to state his
support (which he has) and allow debate moderators, and or the media to force
Cuccinelli to repeatedly discuss his dogged defense of the Marshall-Newman
amendment.

Make no mistake, Ken Cuccinelli is not afraid to stand up
for what he believes in, but winning statewide office in Virginia requires him to focus on something
more than a divisive social issue.

The nature and timing of this lawsuit may very well be the
reason McAuliffe wins in November.

Once the media is a buzz about Cuccinelli's anti-gay extremism, it is an easy step to his similarly extreme views on abortion, contraception and "personhood." Cuccinelli has tried to claim that McAuliffe has made this issues a high priority in this election cycle, but once Cuccinelli files his briefs against gay equality, the media will fan the flames with no assistance from McAuliffe. I for one hope that Cuccinelli twists on his own rope. The Family Foundation made Cuccinelli the GOP nominee and The Family Foundation may end up being the cause of his defeat in the general election in November.

GOP extremism, of course is not limited to the Virginia GOP. The same foul element of Christofascists and Tea Party loons that has swept the Virginia GOP like the bubonic plague swept through Europe during the Middle Ages has also overtaken the GOP nationally. And now Democrats see the possible GOP forced government shut down as an opening to not only hold the U.S. Senate but to also regain the House of Representatives. An article in the Washington Post looks at this analysis. Here are highlights:

Democrats are working hard to exploit massive unrest in the
Republican Party over the looming government shutdown, which many see as
one of their best chances of holding the Senate or even gaining the
House in next year’s midterm elections.

White House officials and other Democrats have been content to
watch in recent days as Republicans have torn into each other over
strategic disputes and are in no rush to launch negotiations on how to
avoid a shutdown.

Instead, they have attacked Republicans as reckless, pressuring them
to decide whether to keep the government open with no strings attached —
as Democrats favor — or shut it down.

The key to the Democratic
strategy is a belief that a showdown is likely to play out similarly to
the government shutdowns of 1995 and 1996, which turned public opinion
sharply against the Republican majority.

“It wouldn’t be the worst
thing for Democrats if [Republicans] tried to shut the government
down,” Hillary Rodham Clinton, the former secretary of state and a
potential 2016 presidential candidate, said in New York on Tuesday. “We’ve seen that movie before, and it didn’t work out so well for those so-called obstructionists,” she added.

The Cruz demonstration — which was opposed by many leading Senate
Republicans and was set to end by Wednesday morning — plays into a
Democratic strategy to try to ensure that the GOP is blamed for a
shutdown if it occurs.

Congress must act by Monday night
to avoid most agencies closing on Tuesday. The showdown is likely to
serve as a launching point for a similarly contentious debate next month
over raising the federal debt ceiling.

Looking ahead to the
challenging midterm elections, Democrats see a potential political boon
in the ongoing fights. Democratic candidates in some competitive races
have begun to attack incumbent Republicans over the GOP effort to defund
Obamacare, airing advertisements and targeting their offices with
constituent calls.

“We’re going to make the case that 2014 is
going to be a referendum between extremist Republicans and crisis and
leaders with reasonable solutions,” said Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.),

Polls show that Americans agree with the Democratic view that Obamacare
should remain law. Voters also strongly oppose a debt default or a
government shutdown as part of a ploy to strip funding for the
health-insurance expansion.

Another challenge for Democrats is that many Republicans are less
vulnerable than they were in the 1990s because gerrymandering has
narrowed the number of competitive seats in the House, with only about
two dozen GOP seats in play.

“I’m not going to say the Democrats
are going to pick up 20 seats because the 2010 redistricting redrew the
districts in such a remarkable way,” said Democratic strategist Paul
Begala.

Polls are seemingly trending in the right direction and one of my personal goals is to see the title of this post become a reality. Horrific defeat may be the only thing that can save the Republican Party of Virginia from the foul and toxic elements of Family Foundation Christofascists and Tea Party Neanderthals who currently hold sway over the party. They certainly are the group that hijacked the nominating process this year and handed Virginia the most extreme - and I would argue, insane - statewide ticket in history. These folks need to be driven into the political wilderness forever. A column in Blue Virginia looks at the possible coming Virginia GOP defeat. Here are excerpts:

The Virginia GOP is one Tea'ed-up Party, but they ain't seen nothing
yet: that will come if current trends hold, and the Virginia GOP goes
down to their worst defeat ever in the two-party era.

Since the spring, I have been predicting that after Inauguration Day
next year, there will NO Republicans in statewide office for the first
time since Holton's swearing-in [in 1969].

Fast forward to late September 2013, when all the polls indicate the
possibility of an historic Democratic sweep in a few weeks, the first
0-5 for the GOP since the 1966 election of two Democratic Senators to
add to the party's three statewide office holders.

First of all, Cuccinelli is going to get the lowest cross-over
Democratic vote EVER for a Republican candidate for Governor. I mean
EVER. The Democratic anti-Cuccinelli fervor is simply amazing. This is
why I believe the 2009 turnout, featuring 4 percentage points more
Republicans than Democrats, can't be duplicated by Cuccinelli this year.
Yes, he has the more "loyal" followers. But that's because he has the
smallest base of voters!

Meaning: If you assume Cuccinelli has the lowest cross-over Dem
vote ever, and you further postulate that anti-Cuccinelli fervor among
Dems is high, then Cuccinelli has to do three things in October: 1)
motivate lukewarm, normally GOP voters; 2) gin-up his own base to 2009
levels; and 3) win independents at 55% or more. Why? Because all the
polls show that Cuccinelli has a certain "bleed" among Republicans. Even
if he stops this voter bleed-out, he needs to win indies to triumph.

Right now, as I have written locally and nationally, Cuccinelli
doesn't have either the issue, the strategy, or the brain trust to make
that happen. . . . . Terry is more likely to play smart politics while Cuccinelli is the one facing two new threats.

First, E. W. Jackson, the LG nominee for the GOP, is simply not
qualified for even a job that doesn't require any qualifications. His
latest attack on those who have different religious views than himself
is contrary to the very teachings of his religion. Either Cuccinelli and
Obenshain ultimately repudiate him - the smart move - or they stay
silent, the dumb move. But either way, Jackson will cost them more votes
as October plays out.

Second, you have the candidacy of Libertarian guv guy Robert Sarvis.

NO, IT ISN'T OVER. But every week, there is a new "political fire" for
Cuccinelli to put out. Right now, he is in danger of running the worst
campaign for Governor since Wyatt Durrette in 1985. That was the last
watershed year up and down the ballot.

Not to be a broken record, but turn out is critical. Gays, women, minorities and those who believe in religious freedom for all - not to mention those who believe in science - need to turn out to drive a wooden stake through the heart of The Family Foundation/Tea Party contagion that has overtaken the Virginia GOP like a plague.

There are a lot of despicable politicians at both the state and national level. But few at the national level disgust me more than Texas GOP Senator Ted Cruz and not just because he is all too reminiscent of Joseph McCarthy who lead the anti-communist witch hunts of the 1950's. Rather, it is Cruz's hypocrisy and, in my view, his outright dishonesty. Naturally, he claims to honor Christian tenants even as his votes are diametrically opposed to the principles of the Gospel message. Ezra Klein takes Cruz's dishonesty apart in a column in the Washington Post:

"Americans feel like they don't have a voice," Cruz said. "I hope to play a small part in providing that voice for them."

[T]his is a bizarre argument for Cruz to be making. After all, Cruz himself is firmly on the wrong side of public opinion:

Cruz opposes raising taxes on the wealthy. The public supports it.
Cruz opposes gun control. The public supports it. Cruz supports sharply
cutting spending on Medicare and Social Security. The public opposes it.
If Cruz actually believed his job was directly representing the will of
the people, his voting record would be extremely different than it is.

Which is why it's so odd Cruz has chosen this argument. He could just
be up there arguing against Obamacare. Instead he's arguing that we
need to #MakeDCListen. He's making a broad, quasi-philosophical argument
that senators should more fully reflect public opinion. But even he
doesn't believe it. Cruz's filibuster is self-refuting.

Cruz epitomizes what's wrong with today's GOP. Pompous, arrogant, disdainful of average Americans and their hopes and needs, and utterly opposed to the Christian values he claims to venerate.

UPDATED: In follow up to the first version of this post, a new Washington Post/Abt-SRBI poll puts Terry McAuliffe's lead over Ken Cuccinelli even larger that reported in the NBC4/NBC News/Marist poll. Here are highlights from the Richmond Times Dispatch:

Democrat Terry McAuliffe has vaulted into the lead over Republican Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli
in a Virginia governor’s race that has left many voters sour on both
candidates, according to a new Washington Post/Abt-SRBI poll.

McAuliffe leads 47 percent to 39 percent among likely voters, with Libertarian Robert Sarvis’ 10 percent suggesting an unrest among voters not satisfied with either major-party contender.

The shift in the race has come almost exclusively from women voters,
who prefer McAuliffe by a 24-point margin over Cuccinelli. The
candidates were effectively tied among women in Washington Post poll in
May.

McAuliffe’s strength among women is likely due in
part to an intense campaign to portray Cuccinelli as a threat to women
and the issues they might care about most deeply. A new McAuliffe ad,
for instance, features a Norfolk OB-GYN speaking directly to the camera
about how she is “offended” by Cuccinelli’s position on abortion rights.

The challenge for Cuccinelli is stark: Nearly
half of all voters view him unfavorably, and they trust his opponent as
much as or more than him on every major issue, according to the poll.

While the poll trends are encouraging, Cuccinelli not only needs to be defeated, but defeated in a landslide. All efforts to motivate and turn out likely Democrat voters need to remain in high gear.

Like most Virginians, I am exhausted from this year's mud slinging gubernatorial race pitting the GOP's closeted and insane Ken Cuccinelli against Democrat Terry McAuliffe. As my latest column in the September issue of VEER Magazine stated, McAuliffe may not be my dream candidate, but compared to sodomy law and personhood bill supporting Ken Cuccinelli, McAuliffe is the better choice for numerous reasons. Apparently, other Virginians are beginning to draw a similar conclusion. A new NBC4/NBC News/Marist poll shows McAuliffe with a five point lead over Cuccinelli. Ten percent of voters polled are "undecided," so it is critical that efforts not let up in turning out voters to vote for a straight Democrat ticket on November 5, 2013. Here are highlights from NBC Channel 4 in Washington on the poll findings:

Fueled by support with women and better likability ratings, Democrat
Terry McAuliffe leads Republican Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli 43-38
percent, with Libertarian candidate Robert Sarvis at 8 percent among
likely voters in the Virginia governor's race, a new NBC4/NBC
News/Marist poll out Monday finds.

The poll of 546 likely voters and 1,069 registered voters, conducted
from Sept. 17 to 19, comes two days before a debate between McAuliffe
and Cuccinelli sponsored by NBC4 Washington and the Fairfax County
Chamber of Commerce and moderated by NBC News Chief White House
Correspondent and Political Director Chuck Todd.

After a summer of mudslinging and negative campaign
ads, neither candidate is well liked, but Cuccinelli has taken a bigger
hit. Just 34 percent of registered voters view Cuccinelli favorably,
while 47 percent say they have an unfavorable impression of him. Back in
May, it was the reverse – 42 favorable, 27 percent unfavorable.

McAuliffe, on the other hand, is on
the positive side – 41 favorable, 34 percent negative – though those
unfavorable numbers are up 10 points as more people have gotten to know
the former Democratic National Committee chairman under Bill Clinton and
party fundraiser.

Sarvis may be something of an outlet for disaffected Republican voters
who are calling themselves independents. With the national GOP brand
suffering, there has been a trend nationally and in Virginia that more
Republicans are identifying as independents. Mitt Romney, the Republican
nominee for president in 2012, after all, won independents, but lost
the election.

Between now and election day, I hope more voters learn about Cuccinelli's improper assistance to energy companies against Virginia landowners, his support for a personhood amendment that would criminalize all abortions and many forms of contraception, his desire to change divorce laws to favor fathers against women, and his extremism on other social issues, including employment protections for gay employees.

All three of the Republican nominees for statewide office this year - Ken Cuccinelli for Governor, "Bishop" E.W. Jackson for Lt. Governor, and Mark Obenshain for Attorney General - are all insane extremists in my view. But "Bishop" Jackson (pictured at right) truly takes the batshitery and bigotry to new levels. Indeed, if one isn't a far right religious extremist and/or Kool-Aid drinking "Stepford Wife" robot , I candidly do not how anyone can support Jackson's candidacy. Now, Jackson has made statements that insult non-Christian Americans and accuse them of engaging in a "false religion." The Washington Post looks at this latest lunacy from Jackson. Here are excerpts:

At a morning sermon Sunday in Northern Virginia, Republican
lieutenant governor candidate E.W. Jackson, a Chesapeake pastor, said
people who don’t follow Jesus Christ “are engaged in some sort of false
religion.”

Jackson offered that view while describing a list of the
“controversial” things he believes, and that must be said, as a
Christian.

“Any time you say, ‘There is no other means of salvation but through
Jesus Christ, and if you don’t know him and you don’t follow him and you
don’t go through him, you are engaged in some sort of false religion,’
that’s controversial. But it’s the truth,” Jackson said, according to a
recording of the sermon by a Democratic tracker.

As for non-Christians, “I would expect they would be offended,” Ahlemann
[the church's pastor] acknowledged. “It’s not our purpose. And [Jackson] said he did not set
out to offend people. It’s his purpose to proclaim what the Bible said
as a preacher. That was not a political speech. That was a Bible
sermon...Those of us who are Bible-believing Christians are very proud
of what he had to say.”

Historically, it is a fact that this nation was founded by
individuals who were Christians and wanted this to be a Christian
nation. That’s truth. That is historical fact,” he [Ahlemann] said. Jackson did not respond to a request for comment.

The historical truth is that the Founding Fathers did NOT want a Christian nation. Most of the Founding Fathers were very distrustful of organized religion and the bullshit recited by Ahlemann is a myth fabricated by the Christofascists as a ploy to allow them to trample on the religious freedoms of others.

Translate This Page

Contact Me to Order Title Work

LGBT Legal Services

About Me

Out gay attorney in a committed relationship; formerly married and father of three wonderful children; sometime activist and political/news junkie; survived coming out in mid-life and hope to share my experiences and reflections with others.
In the career/professional realm, I am affiliated with Caplan & Associates PC where I practice in the areas of real estate, estate planning (Wills, Trusts, Advanced Medical Directives, Financial Powers of Attorney, Durable Medical Powers of Attorney); business law and commercial transactions; formation of corporations and limited liability companies and legal services to the gay, lesbian and transgender community, including birth certificate amendment.

Disclaimer on Opinions and Content

This Blog contains content that may be innapropriate for readers under the legal age of 18. IF YOU ARE UNDER 18 YEARS OF AGE, PLEASE LEAVE NOW. Thank you

This is an opinion and commentary blog and the opinions and contents of this Blog - including opinions expressed concerning opponents of LGBT equality - are the opinions only of the individual blogger and should not be attributed to any other individuals or to any organization of which the blogger is a past or current member.

Followers

Michael-in-Norfolk disclaims any and all responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, completeness, legality, reliability, operability, or availability of information or material displayed on this site and does not claim credit for any images or articles featured on this site, unless otherwise noted. All visual content is copyrighted to it's respectful owners. Information on this site may contain errors or inaccuracies, and Michael-in-Norfolk does not make warranty as to the correctness or reliability of the site's content. If you own rights to any of the images or articles, and do not wish them to appear on this site, please contact Michael-in-Norfolk via e-mail and they will be promptly removed. Michael-in-Norfolk contains links to other Internet sites. These links are provided solely as a convenience and are not endorsements of any products or services in such sites, and no information or content in such site has been endorsed or approved by this blog.